Afghanistan skipper Hashmatullah Shahidi is hoping that the spin-wizard Rashid Khan can ‘deliver’ against India at the World Cup on Wednesday as they look to come back after their opening defeat against Bangladesh in the tournament.
The Afghanistan team were outclassed by Bangladesh as they lost their opening fixture by six wickets. They were bowled out for a mere 156 in Dharamsala on Saturday.
The 25-year-old Rashid, who has 172 wickets in 95 ODI matches, went wicketless in that match but remains Afghanistan’s key bowler.
“Rashid is the best bowler in ODI and T20s, so whatever the opposition is doing, we don’t care about that,” said Shahidi ahead of the game.
“Like how they want to play Rashid, but for us the important thing is how he has planned against the opposition. So that matters for us.”
Shahidi added: “He has the quality and whenever it’s his day, he can do anything against the opposition, so we are expecting and we are hopeful that he delivers in tomorrow’s game.”
Shahidi said, however, that spin alone will not win them matches.
“I made a statement at the beginning that we will play good cricket as a batting side. We have a good spin bowling attack, but only one department can’t win you games,” Shahidi told reporters.
“In the Bangladesh game, I know we didn’t do well batting, but as a team, we have that belief that we can come back in the next game and throughout the tournament. So the belief is there and the talent is there and we will try to move on.”
Playing India at home comes with added pressure and Shahidi said the Afghans will not be overwhelmed by an expected packed house at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
- Rashid Khan